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Costume History Page 2
World Without Young Justice costume (Robin 101): In the alternate universe where the main three members of Young Justice didn't exist, Steph was Robin instead of Tim. Though her hair was cropped short in the interiors of Robin # 101, it was longer and in a ponytail on the covers of the crossover. The costume is really neat. The boots and belt were a throw back to her costume at the time, and her mask is a throwback to her dad's- the green pants and Dick Grayson style tunic are utterly spiffy as well. A lot of thought was put into this, and the design is just suited for Steph. Batman Family In Batman Family, the costume was still eggplant and streamlined, but had the regular gloves, pirate boots and pointed hood. This is my favorite version of the Spoiler costume, to be honest. Homemade Robin Costume (Robin 126) Then, Steph became Robin. The first female Robin! It was a huge deal, even though DC only did it so they could make her into a plot device and kill her off. Being the plucky girl she is, Stephanie marched right up to Batman and demanded to be Robin in a costume she made herself! Well, considering how well made and utilitarian the Spoiler costume she sewed herself is, this one ought to be really good, right? ...or it will look like a piece of junk she slapped together in five minutes, and include a BELLY SHIRT. Seriously? This is Stephanie Brown, not some generic stuck-in-the-Nineties teenybopper. Just because she's an lol!teenage girl doesn't mean she doesn't know how to dress. Steph made a costume that was fully protective and functional her very first time out, and she made it WELL. She would NOT slap together a piece of junk costume because she's a better seamstress than that. And she would NOT ever want to go crimefighting in a belly shirt, because she has a history of dressing practically while crimefighting. Heck, her clothing is generally tomboy-ish and conservative even when she's off duty! If you're going to set up a character for failure and slaughter, the least you could do is respect her dress sense! /rant over. One thing I do like is that she seems to be reusing her Spoiler boots for this costume. Nice detail. Note that Batman says that they'll have to do something about Steph's hair. This is what they decide to do about it. Robin costume (Robin 126-128) Yeah. Humongous, spiky, anime hair flowing loosely and only kept at bay by a measly headband is WAY more practical than having your hair tied back. You tell her Batman! Anyway, this costume is pretty inferior to the World without Young Justice one. It's basically just Tim's with a skirt added over the leggings, as well as a spiky red headband. The belt is a nice touch though, I like the way it slants and the gold styling. And of course, you could do a lot worse with a costume than adding a kicky skirt. At least it's fully covering and fun looking, therefore in-character. Batgirl 53 This version of the Robin costume has green elbow pads. Neat! Teen Titans 13 And here, the headband is a plain red one, without any spiked tips. She also has normal hair. Unisex Robin Costume (Detective Comics 796) ] Pete Woods returns to Steph and gives her a unisex costume, and because Pete is awesome, it's still different and cool looking. Notice how the two yellow legbands echo the Spoiler costume. Woods also gives Stephanie green elbow pads and her headband is smaller and black. Reinforced Armor Robin costume (Detective Comics 796) Woods gives us another costume variant with the armored Robin costume. Not only is is practical for tough missions, it looks cool. It's basically just a long sleeved tunic, armored gorget, and larger utility belt added on the unisex costume. Ghost Spoiler (Batgirl 61-62) Ale Garza draws a ghostly version of Spoiler to rescue Cassandra from drowning. The light pink coloring really gives her an ethereal look, as do the briefly glowing eyes. How skeletal she looks is hopefully because she's a corpse too. (Look at those ribs peeking through!) (Robin 172- Robin/Spoiler Special) This costume is a perfect one for the resurrected Spoiler. It's rendered beautifully here by Chris Batista. It has the trademark black face mask and purple cloak and body suit with nifty seams added, along with the circular sash. The utility belt is back to being black with small white canister and it has a simple loop of grappling rope at the side. There's also the trademark silver band on her right leg, the gloves, and finally the calf length black pirate boots. Basically, all the best elements of the previous Spoiler duds combine for a snazzy and solid costume. I also enjoyed how the cloth wrinkles like it's real, and not painted on spandex. Our girl is back and looking better than ever! Of course, it varies slightly. Both Baldeon and Albequerque draw Steph in a plain black utility belt, minus the coil of grappling rope. (Robin/Spoiler Special) Victor Ibanez has an interesting take on the costume. A square buckle for the sash, the mask is eggplant, both the belt and legband are white and the legband even has pouches! Also, very prominent seams. African costume ''' Stephanie throws together something to save an African village. Good costume considering she must have made it up in five seconds from the materials around her. Of course, she can't stay away from the eggplant. '''Robin 176-183 In this cover for Robin 176, Freddie Williams draws a weird square of silver dots on both Steph's sash and belt. In the interiors, he can't make up his mind. He often forgets the legband, draws her utility belt white sometimes, and black other times. We're back to the big eyes here as well. He even drew both Steph's utility belt (well, it doesn't have any pockets or canisters so I guess it's just a belt) and sash white with square buckles and lots of random holes in the last issues. Batman and the Outsiders 13 Here's what Stephanie looks like after being on the stretch rack for hours, and then had her spine surgically replaced with silly putty! Oh, I'm evil. I mean, clearly that's not Steph, but an oddly proportioned alien who stole her costume. An alien with invisibility powers. And no internal organs. Stephanie kicked that alien's ass off panel and got her costume back, but tragically, she found the suit was all stretched and slimed one so she had to get a new one. Teen Titans 66 On the cover to TT # 66, Stephanie has no sash and two legbands that are brown for some reason. But on the inside, she's normal, except her legband's plain missing and she's wearing her square buckled belt. Cassandra Cain Batgirl costume (Batgirl (third series) #1-3): Steph is given Cassandra Cain's costume and decided to wear it as she acclimates to being Batgirl. After a bomb goes off, she's wearing a battle damaged version. Note how the bomb conveniently ripped the mouth of her costume off, so we can peg her as a new and chattier Batgirl. Steph's Batgirl Costume (Batgirl (third series) 3-12) Overall, I think this is a great design. I really love how elements of the Spoiler costume are incorporated- the stretchy, flexible looking purple sides are just fantastic. I also really like the light yellow accessories that match Steph's hair and the Spoiler style legband. And I've always loved the Batgirl full body suit, and the super practical steel toed black boots with cute little bat-spikes at the side and gauntleted gloves set it all off nicely. It's a snappy design that comes together very well. I do have a few quibbles- the loose belt seems impractical. I like that Garbett's inspiration was Han Solo here, and it does look cool and jaunty and Steph-ish, but it seems like it would really get in the way of her kicking and acrobatics. I'd also enjoy it more if there was a little strap to hold the belt up (like there seems to be in one pose in the first pic) so it doesn't look like it's about to fall off. Also, I'm going to miss Steph's pragmatic face covering mask- the Babs!cowl always bothered me because it offered no protection for the eyes, and doesn't protect the secret identity at all. And the long flowing hair is an easy target for pulling and getting in the way- as well as a target for street muck and a pain to wash. A departure for Steph, who's so sensible about her hair she once cut it so it wouldn't bother her under her Spoiler mask. But these complaints aside, it's a really fun, spunky, and fairly functional costume, and that's perfect for Steph. Bring on the adventures of the new Batgirl! Note that Garbett streamlines the legband later on- less containers, and no more latches. It looks better. Phil Noto Batgirl Covers You can see that Noto and the colorist really had a tough time getting a handle on the costume at first- the shades they color it in are a bit unflattering, and the stripes are a bit odd looking. But he really hits a home run after his initial struggle- the costume shines in later covers. Noto's interpretation differs from Garbett's in that Steph's legband has straight-up bulky pouches rather than the flat containers Garbett employs, and the belt is cinched tight rather than slung at the hip. Noto's cover for # 6 also makes it clear the costume is a two-tone purple. The Web 3 We see a slight variation here. Steph's legband is different. It's much smaller, and it's clear there aren't any containers or pouches on it. Her gauntlets are also way longer and more prominent, and she doesn't appear to have any bat-spikes on her boots. Also, no containers on her belt. Red Robin #9 on Marcus To's Steph is notable for being gorgeous, and also for the little two-pounch legband he gives her. Wonder Woman #600 George Perez's Steph is notable for being George Perez, but he also appears to have her boots call back to her time as Spoiler- note how they seem to be rolled at the top like the Spoiler pirate boots. Batgirl 11-12 When Steph dives in to save Barbara, Pere Perez and Lee Garbett have her rocking parachute gear and braid, both which are cool and practical additions. Batgirl 13 Pere Perez also gives Steph some bootrolls, and her ribbing is all the way down to her boots again. The Road Home: Oracle ' ' A little bizarreness here- Steph's ribbing is switched to the INSIDE of her legs, making it very awkward in the crotch area. Also, her utility belt is all squareish, and no boot gauntlets. Batgirl 15- present ' ' Dustin Nguyen comes on the title, and his sleek style suits Steph and her costume well. The utility belt is cinched a little tighter, and the gauntlets on her gloves less square. Her gloves have a bit less detail. Most significant is this cinches the black-and-purple combination as a permanant fixture for Steph, rather than the dark-and-light-purple coloring Garbett used. Costume History